[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [法苑珠林](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122) › 38.87 # 法苑珠林 38.87 法苑珠林 38.87 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [38.87](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.38.87) 又問。何故錫杖在於龍窟中四十年住耶。答曰。為護諸外道及伏煩惱惡龍破諸結使開寤大乘四諦法輪。如來去世後。四十年中有飛行羅剎。能說毘尼藏及十二部經。詐為善比丘食諸持戒者。日別四百。為斷此惡故鎮龍窟。復令正法增住四百年。復令像法增住千五百年。復令末法增住二萬年。 > "He asked again: 'For what reason did the tin staff remain in the dragon cave for forty years?' They answered, saying: 'It was to protect against non-Buddhists, subdue defiled evil dragons, destroy all afflictive fetters, and awaken beings to the Mahāyāna wheel of the Dharma of the Four Noble Truths. After the Tathāgata left the world, during those forty years there were flying rākṣasas who could recite the Vinaya-piṭaka and the twelve-division canon, deceptively posing as good bhikṣus while devouring those who maintained the precepts—four hundred each day. To sever this evil, it guarded the dragon cave. It also caused the saddharma to remain for an additional four hundred years, caused the semblance Dharma to remain for an additional one thousand five hundred years, and caused the final Dharma to remain for an additional twenty thousand years.'" > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 38.86](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.38.86) - [Next: 38.88](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.38.88) - [Up: 38](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.38) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122~en-mt.38.87) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.38.87](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.38.87) · Pramāṇa